Men’s health briefs

The surge in senior air travel over the past decade has seen the emergence of new services to keep wealthier retirees airborne. One such service provides trained health professionals to accompany them on the flights or on the entire trip. Medical Travel Companions provides registered nurses and other professionals for domestic and international travel. Industry figures show 4.86 million domestic passengers aged 65 and over travelled around Australia last year. At the same time, 756,000 international passengers were in this age group. With the first among the baby boomer generation about to enter their 70s, and with air travel becoming cheaper, there may be a bigger role ahead for medical escorts to accompany groups, individuals or those recovering from injury. Over the last 10 years to 2013, this group of older travellers increased from 6.3 per cent to 9 per cent of international travellers.

Traction can help men suffering from a curvature of their male member, according to a study published The Journal of Sexual Medicine. Men with a curve that interferes with intercourse are said to have Peyronie’s disease. It has two phases: the early acute phase and the long-term chronic phase. This study used penile traction therapy, PTT, in the early phase. It uses an extender device to try and reduce curvature. The study divided 96 men with early Peyronie’s into two groups. The first group had PTT for six months. By six months, their curvature decreased from 33° to 15°. By nine months it was down to 13°. Their erectile function and hardness improved significantly and the proportion unable to achieve penetration decreased from 62 per cent to 20 per cent. The other group had no active treatment and declined on most measurements.

Studies on statins – drugs that lower cholesterol – produce contrary results. While the Americans recently issued health alerts about statins and memory loss, recent Taiwanese research shows regular statin use could help stave off dementia in the elderly. Published in the International Journal of Cardiology, it involved 34,000 people over 60 who were followed for a decade. Half had been prescribed statins and proved to have a 22 per cent lower risk of dementia. The effect was stronger in women. Men needed higher doses of longer duration.

It’s well known that moderate to severe forms of sleep apnea have a negative impact on health, but now a 20-year Australian study has quantified some of the risks. The study involved some 400 participants from the Busselton Health Study in WA. It found that sufferers of this condition were four times more likely to die from all causes. They were also four times more likely to have a stroke, and 2.5 times more likely to have cancer. In addition, they were three times more likely to die from cancer. Published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, these Australian results concur with those from Spain and the United States. During the 20-year follow-up, co-ordinated by the Woolcock Institute in NSW, there were 77 deaths and 31 strokes. Of 125 cancer events there were 39 fatalities. Mild sleep apnea was not associated with increased health risks. The Woolcock now has a new NeuroSleep centre to understand how disrupted sleep leads to impaired brain function and how brain conditions impact on sleep.